Igniting Darkness (Courting Darkness Duology #2) - Robin LaFevers Page 0,103

of help mucking out the stables.”

Keeping my eyes warily on the horse, I edge around the stall until I am close enough that Beast and I can speak without being overheard. He glances up, his blue eyes piercing even in the dim light of the stables. “More news?”

“Are there fish in the sea?”

“Last time I checked.” The gelding nickers impatiently, and Beast resumes his shoveling. “Best if I don’t stop. It will help cover our voices.”

“I learned who was behind the ambush.”

“Who?” His arms do not stop their work, even as his eyes bore into mine.

“Pierre and the regent. I heard them with my own ears. The regent was most irate with Pierre for even risking meeting with her. And that is the other piece of bad news. Pierre is here.”

Beast keeps his attention on his work “Is he?” It is one of his most admirable qualities—the ability to remain focused and on task no matter what else is going on around him.

“Well, he was. He did not appear before the king today, and the regent seemed most surprised. I do not know what to make of it all.”

“Well, then, that is good.” Beast seems remarkably unperturbed by this news. Else he is trying to hide the full force of his anger from me.

I fold my arms and begin to pace. “It was most unexpected. Even the regent was surprised. It is hard to believe my exposure of his dealings with the regent would have spooked him that badly.” Beast is still focused on his shoveling. “Have you heard any rumors among the grooms or stable workers?”

He shakes his head. “None. But I will be grateful for it, all the same.”

“As will I. Truly, it is as if a great weight has been lifted from my shoulders. And the king is still most irked at the regent.”

Beast grunts. “As well he should be.”

The scrape of a boot on flagstone draws my attention. That is when I realize that a cluster of heartbeats has drawn closer. Much closer.

I step away from Beast just as the stall door bursts open, surprising the gelding. He neighs and rears. Calm as a mountain, Beast gracefully avoids the flailing hooves and grabs the rope. As soon as he has the creature under control, he calls to the intruder. “Mind the horse, you fool.”

No longer needing to dodge the startled horse, I look toward the stall door.

General Cassel’s enormous bulk and glowering countenance have my heart slamming into my ribs. At Beast’s words, he draws himself up taller, making his shoulders even broader, like a bear rising up on two legs. In contrast, Beast does not need to make himself bigger, he is already larger than Cassel. Two men of the same blood and bone, so much alike and yet so wildly different. While Beast appears calm, I can feel the furious pounding of his heart as if it were inside my own chest.

Cassel takes a step closer to Beast, the group of men at his back moving with him. “How dare you speak to me thus? Who are you?” As his savage blue gaze meets Beast’s lighter, feral one, I marvel that it is not obvious to him. I cannot decide if I am grateful for or resentful of the peasant hood that cloaks Beast’s face and casts it in shadow.

“I am captain of the queen’s guard, and I speak to anyone thus if they do not know enough to not barge in and startle a high-strung horse.”

Cassel’s nostrils flare. “There is no queen’s guard.”

“In truth, there is.” At my challenge, Cassel swings toward me like a battering ram to a new target. “The queen’s guard came with her from Brittany,” I continue. “The queen had sent them on a mission, and now they have returned. She asked me to ascertain how they fared and how quickly they could meet with her.”

“What mission is that?”

“That is the queen’s business. You shall have to ask her, as I do not have permission to speak of it, my lord.”

He studies me a long moment before turning back to Beast. “The king has said nothing of such a guard. Until he has sanctioned your presence here, you are either an intruder, a soldier who has abandoned his post, or a traitor. Seize him! Take them to the guard tower until I send further word.”

“No!”

The general’s eyes widen in surprise at my protest. He is not accustomed to being naysaid by a mere woman. “He is the queen’s man